NEW BEDFORD — An historic city building will remain standing for at least six months after a City Council committee voted 8-1 Tuesday to delay demolition.

The building, located at 177 Cove St. and built in 1915, is currently the House of Hope transitional housing. Formerly the Charron Maternity Hospital and more recently the Cabral-Lamoureux Funeral Home, it was the subject of a meeting of the Committee on Appointments and Briefings.

Developer Michael Panagakos, who owns the building, said he wants to demolish it and build a retail space with off-street parking on the property. But he was grilled by members of the committee.

"The community really wants to see this building preserved," said Councilor-at-large Debora Coelho after several New Bedford residents spoke in favor of delaying demolition. She also pointed out that she has advocated for some of Panagakos' developments in the past.

Panagakos said while some people may want to save the building, they do not represent the entire city. He also said much of the building is not original and thus not historic or worth preserving.

Coelho said the Historic Commission is a group of "highly educated folks" with preservation expertise, and that members called the building "preferably preserved" and "historically significant" at its last meeting. She asked why office space could not be accommodated in the building.

"Nobody wants to be in the South End of New Bedford," Panagakos said, calling the idea of having law offices in the building "a fantasy world."

Council President Joseph Lopes, who represents Ward 6, said he objected to the South End being characterized as "undesirable" and said there are successful small business owners in the South End and that mills have been developed to include businesses there.

Panagakos said it is simply not a viable building to develop for commercial tenants. He also said he paid more than $350,000 in real estate taxes to the city last year and his tenants provide more than 200 jobs in the city.

Councilor-at-large Naomi Carney asked Panagakos if he would consider refurbishing the structure.

"The best thing I can do for the city of New Bedford is grow the tax base," said Panagakos. He said it would cost about $50,000 to demolish the building and said it was not an ideal for a developer to raze a building, but stressed the structure was not viable commercially.

After the meeting, Panagakos said New Bedford "can't be stuck in the past."

"We have a historic district," and that is where buildings should be preserved, he said.

"I saw the pictures from 1915 of the beautiful building, well I feel like bringing in my high school yearbook, I looked pretty good, too," he said.

Neighbor Donna Downing said she does not see why offices couldn't go in the building.

"You can put an office anywhere," she said. "I don't think the city needs another mini-mall with just windows. Who needs it?"

Coelho said she is not always on the side of preservation but that this building was different.

"There's so much possibility to that building. The second floor, that's water view. You can have offices in the first floor and upstairs have residential."

"We're sending a strong message: New Bedford respects itself, respects its history, and we're not going to sell out cheap," Coelho said. "You're going to build us up, not tear us down."

In the final vote, Councilor David Alves cast the lone objection to the delay; councilors Linda Morad and Brian Gomes were not present.